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The Hawthorns is an all-seater football stadium in West Bromwich, in the Black Country borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 27,087. It has been the home of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion since 1900, when it became the sixth ground to be used by the club. The Hawthorns was the first Football League ground to be built in the 20th century, opening in September 1900 after construction work took only 4 months.Official West Bromwich Albion F.C history, http://www.wba.co.uk/club/the_hawthorns.aspx The official record attendance at The Hawthorns stands at 64,815, set in March 1937.
Alongside being the home of West Bromwich Albion for over 125 years, The Hawthorns has also hosted a number of England internationals, as well as two FA Cup semi-finals. At an altitude of , it is the highest ground above sea level of all Premier League and Football League clubs.Matthews (2007) p. 72.
When opened, the Hawthorns could hold around 35,500 spectators. The first match took place on Monday 3 September 1900, when Albion drew 1–1 with Derby County in front of a crowd of 20,104. Derby's England international Steve Bloomer scored the first Hawthorns goal, with Chippy Simmons equalizing for Albion. The first Saturday game followed soon after, with Albion losing out 0–1 to fierce local rivals Aston Villa in front of a capacity crowd, officially put at 35,417 but with many more forcing entry and an estimated 15,000 people locked out. The 1900–01 campaign was not a successful one however, as Albion finished bottom of the table and were relegated to Division Two. Their defeat to Sheffield United on the final day of the season was witnessed by just 1,050 spectators, which remains the record lowest crowd for a league game at the Hawthorns.Matthews (2007) p198
The ground was gradually expanded and 1923 saw the first ever 50,000+ gate with 56,474 watching a 2–1 win in the cup against Sunderland. The first 60,000+ gate followed in 1925, with 64,612 fans watching a cup tie with arch-rivals Aston Villa. The all-time attendance record at the Hawthorns was set on 6 March 1937, when 64,815 spectators crammed in to see Albion beat hot-favourites Arsenal 3–1 in the FA Cup quarter-final.Matthews (2007) pp83–84. This record was likely bettered when Albion played Newcastle United in an FA Cup fifth round tie in 1954, when over 80,000 people are believed to have been in attendance. However, the official crowd was registered as 61,088. The highest ever league crowd was for a 1–1 draw 60,945 against Wolves on 4 March 1950.
Concrete terracing was added to the ground in 1920. In 1949 the ground became the first in Britain to have an electronic turnstile aggregator fitted, in order to automatically calculate attendances. In 1957 electric floodlights were erected, at a cost of £18,000. The ground's first floodlit match saw Albion draw 1–1 with Chelsea, on 18 September 1957. Soon afterwards a friendly game against the Russian Red Army was organised to officially open them. Albion won 6–5 in front of 53,805 fans.
The ground was once divided by the Birmingham/Smethwick border, but was moved completely into the latter by a minor rationalisation of local government borders in the 1960s and is now entirely in Sandwell. In 1964 the large Handsworth Side terrace was replaced by the Rainbow Stand at a cost of £40,000, reducing capacity to around 50,000. In October 1968, closed-circuit television was installed at the ground, in an attempt to ward off "increasing hooliganism". Over the following decades capacity was further reduced and perimeter fences were built to help tackle hooliganism. The Halfords Lane stand was rebuilt in two separate phases between 1979 and 1982, at a cost of around £2.5 million.Matthews (2007) p69. Official club website records a period of 1980–1982 and a cost of £2.56 million.
By the end of the 1980s, the capacity had been slashed dramatically to just over 30,000, with attendances frequently dropping below half that figure. The Hawthorns was become increasingly dilapidated and in need of modernisation. Following the Taylor Report in January 1990, the ground became all-seated with first the Smethwick End and then the much-loved Birmingham Road End terraces being demolished and replaced by all-seater stands, giving it a capacity of more than 25,000 by the mid-1990s. The official re-opening of the redeveloped ground saw Albion beat Bristol City 1–0 on Boxing Day in 1994.Matthews (2007) p366.
There had been plans for the Halfords Lane Stand to be rebuilt, but these were shelved due to what Albion chairman Jeremy Peace called "continuing levels of excess capacity". The stand was instead refurbished and became known as the West Stand, with the capacity reduced to 26,272. Plans were again announced to expand capacity after West Bromwich finished in their highest league position since 1983. The plans involved an increase of capacity to around 30,000 by 2014, regardless of league performance. However, this never materialised and the Hawthorns still awaits its first major development in nearly two decades.
On 6 November 2014 a statue of Tony Brown, Albion's record appearance maker and goalscorer, was revealed. Safe standing was introduced to The Hawthorns ahead of the 2025–26 season. Around 4000 safe standing seats were added to the Smethwick End and Millenium Corner for the first phase of implementation.
In April 2017, The Hawthorns was listed by FourFourTwo magazine as the best stadium of all 92 in the Premier League and English Football League, citing it to be "modern and atmospheric". The article stated that The Hawthorns "Combines the best features of a Premier League football ground... but the stadium still retains its own identity. The atmosphere can be electric on a good day: when the "boing boing" chant gets going, the home fans are literally bouncing".
Running along the west edge of the pitch and along Halford's Lane, the West Stand (formerly the Halford's Lane Stand) provided VIP seating before the advent of the new East Stand. The stand houses the main TV cameras as well as the press and commentary area. Chairman Jeremy Peace had announced plans for the Halfords Lane Stand to be demolished to make way for a single-tier, 10,000 seated stand, raising the total stadium capacity to around 32,000. However, following Albion's relegation from the Premier League, this plan has been shelved, despite Albion regaining their top flight status in 2008. The stand has instead been refurbished, cutting capacity from 28,003 to 26,272. The old name of the stand also provided the names for the names for the three aging detectives in New Tricks. Jack Halford (James Bolam) Brian Lane (Alun Armstrong) and Gerry Standing (Denis Waterman).
Affectionately called the Brummie Road by supporters, the Birmingham Road End runs behind the goal, adjacent to the A41. Traditionally, it housed the core of the home support and was the main source of the so-called "Albion roar". When a terrace, it held up to 14,000, but the stand which replaced it in 1994 holds 8,000 all-seated spectators.
Between this stand and the East Stand lies the Woodman corner, named after the Woodman pub which stood just behind it until its demolition in 2004. The Woodman corner is home to a large throstle mascot, which was originally perched above the old (terraced) Woodman corner scoreboard. The throstle effigy first appeared in 1979 and has been a familiar sight in the stadium since.
Running behind the goal at the southern edge of the pitch, the Smethwick End houses away supporters, though they are only allocated part of the stand, except for cup matches. The remainder houses the most vocal of Albion's home support. Development in the summer of 2014 increased the stadium capacity to 26,850, with added seats made available in the Smethwick End due to the movement of the police control room. Safe standing areas are based in the Smethwick End's upper tier.
Replacing the old Rainbow Stand, the East Stand now houses the club's administration offices, club shop, club ticket office and corporate entertainment suites. The wings of the East Stand are known as the Woodman corner (which joins up with the Birmingham Road End, and is named after the Woodman public house that stood there until 2004) and the Millennium Corner (adjacent to the Smethwick End).
The Rainbow Stand was built in 1964, originally known as the East Stand, but gained the name Rainbow Stand over the next few years owing to its brightly painted seats. It originally consisted of standing accommodation in the lower section and seating in the upper section. However, a refurbishment project in 1977 saw the terracing replaced by executive boxes and seating. It survived until 2000, when it was demolished to make way for the new stand which opened in the 2000–01 season.[1]
It also contains a quote from Brown:
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Two FA cup semi-finals have been staged at the ground. The first saw Derby County draw 1–1 to Sheffield United in 1902, and the second took place between Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1960. Wolves won 1–0 in front of 55,596. The Hawthorns also staged the FA Trophy final replays of 1987 and 1988.
On 11 January 1987, Telford United (a non-league side playing some 30 miles away in Shropshire), switched their FA Cup tie against Leeds United to the Hawthorns as they had refused to host it at their own stadium due to concerns over hooliganism.[2]
On 24 March 2025, The Hawthorns hosted an England U21 international friendly victory versues Portugal U21 in front of a crowd of around 15,000.
In the late 1970s the Hawthorns was the venue for a cricket match between India and Pakistan, watched by 2,641 spectators,Matthews (2007) p332. while in 2000 and 2001 the ground hosted Kabaddi tournaments. During the mid-late 1990s there were proposals for Moseley Rugby Football Club to share the ground, but these never materialised.
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Previously NXWM ran 79 from Birmingham to Wolverhampton and 78 Birmingham and Wednesbury both of which would have stopped outside the ground, due to Midland Metro running between Birmingham to Wolverhampton these services no longer run with the exception of the 79 which only covers part of the route from West Bromwich to Wolverhampton
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